Study On Attachment Of Relapse Of The Male Compulsory Drug Abstainers

The high prevalence of relapse among drug abstainers has been a severe global problem. Attachment is the emotional bond between a person and the particular individuals he or she often interacts with. The study attempts to explore the correctional treatment of drug abstainers from the viewpoint of attachment. The author has participated in the relapse prevention work for several years. The pre-study started since September2009and lasted for one year. After the depth interview of the drug abstainers and their family members, attachment was found to be an in-depth point of the correctional treatment for the drug abstainers. Attachment is one of the main factors that influence the family relationships of drug abstainers. It is also the deep reason of the relapse prevention. Raising the good attachment relationships not only helps the drug abstainers quit drugs, but also can improve their life quality and exert positive influence on their entire life.The author did the research in one compulsory drug rehabilitation center in Shanghai since July2010. The subjects were male drug abstainers. During one and a half year research time, both the quantitative research and the qualitative research such as questionnaire survey, group counseling, depth interview, case study and individual counseling were applied to study the relationship between attachment and relapse prevention.The study found that the top three principal attachment figures of male drug abstainers were mother, spouse (or love) and father. The factor of mother's warmly understandings and the factor of father's preference could significantly predict the subjects'attachment avoidance. It also indicated that the factor of mother's denial and rejection, mother's preference and the factor of father's punishment and severity could significantly predict the subjects'attachment anxiety. It was thus clear that early parenting styles influenced one's attachment relationships. However, the total ratio of interpretation was not high. It met the hypothesis of adult attachment revisionism viewpoint, that is, early parenting styles exert limited influence on adult attachment, attachment would adjust to the new environment and change in one's life. Thus, it indicated the possibility of improving attachment relationships.The results of depth interview indicated that the risk factors of attachment which led to drug addiction or relapse during the process of men's growth were as follows: inappropriate family education in childhood (eg:opposite parenting style, raised and spoiled by grandparents etc.), poor attachment relationships in puberty (eg:harmful peer attachment, lost parent attachment etc.), lack of intimacy in adolescence, negative self internal working model in growth and dysfunctional secure base etc.The study also found that secure attachment of drug abstainers was not necessarily the protective factors of their relapse prevention since it had defects as follows:the main attachment figures were not in close touch with the abstainers, they spoiled the abstainers by giving money without principles, and dysfunctional peer attachment relationships were predominant. These facts were also one of the main reasons of drug addiction or relapse of the secure style abstainers. Case studies not only reflected the different attachment styles of the subjects in details, but also confirmed, to some extent, the positive effects of the recovered secure attachment relationships on relapse prevention.In the group counseling, four-month courses and activities were designed to improve the attachment networks and raise the positive internal working models of the male drug abstainers as our intervention program. The results showed that the scores of optimism and perceived family support of the experimental group were both significantly higher, the score of loneliness was significantly lower after the group counseling. Three months later, the effect still existed. The score of positive affect of the experimental group also became significantly higher after the group counseling. Although its score didn't have significant difference between three months later and before the counseling, the average score was still higher than before the counseling. The scores of the control group showed no significant difference on the above aspect. Most of the members of the experimental group benefited from the group counseling. They understood more about themselves, had more positive representation of themselves and others, became more thankful for others, improved their communication and relationships with the attachment figures and other family members. Their attachment networks were also enriched. It was thus clear that group counseling was an effective way to mend the drug abstainers'secure attachment relationships. It could also guide the insecure attachment subjects to improve the relationships with attachment figures and maybe change to secure styles. The group counseling took an active part in the correctional treatment and relapse prevention.